Real Estate: The Wide Range of Value in Belgian Seaside Towns - by Nick Foster

When a member of Brussels’ upper classes says he is going “à la mer,” or “to the seaside,” it is understood that the destination is Knokke-Heist, an upmarket resort of about 34,000 permanent residents that is 110 kilometers from the Belgian capital.

And it is the town’s most expensive properties — primarily the white-washed, two-story brick mansions in the Zoute section — that are expected to hold their value best as the real estate market on the Belgian coast enters an unpredictable phase.

“The coast is a rather different market from that of the rest of Belgium,” said Julien Manceaux, a senior economist in the research department of the bank ING. “Particularly at the higher end, a lot of buyers see their homes at least partly as an investment. We have seen that if the Belgian stock market is performing well, residential real estate prices on the coast are usually buoyant. Buyers at the coast are also typically less dependent on loans, so any increase in interest rates will affect them less."

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